IBC - summary Part 1 PDF

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Business Plans and Communications Summary Part 1...

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1) Communication in business ➔ Managers core functions: leading and motivating, controlling, organizing, planning ➔ Communication doesn‘t accompany the functions of a manager but rather constitutes them

Mintzbergs managerial roles 10 different roles grouped into three categories INTERPERSONAL ROLES INFORMATIONAL ROLES • Figurehead: performing ceremonial duties • Monitor: collecting (public speaking + information interaction with • Disseminator: sharing media) information they have • Leader: taking gathered responsibility for the work of • Spokesman: others/motivating representing the employees organization to the • Liaison: making outside contacts outside their own unit

DECISIONAL ROLES

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Entrepreneur: seeking opportunities for improvement Disturbance handler: intervening to unexpected conflicts Resource allocator: decides how funds are used Negotiator: negotiating on behalf of the organization

Roles are not easily separable à all roles overlap and blend into another Wider socio-politival context, more globally connected, more diverse and less hierarchical Leader is now a synonym of manager BOUNDARY-SPANNING: Activities, that span the boundaries between organizations Soft skills = ability to think critically and communication at C-suite level Stakeholders à communication plan = who is told what, how and when each group has its own particular requirements of the organization + they have different types of background knowledge Integrated corporate communication different messages within and outside the organization form a coherent whole à the should never clash with each other or trustworthiness will suffer 1)Content à same message or compatible ones? 2) form à consistent form 3) time à was informed at the right time? Brand tone of voice: values, personality, essence fo the brand is uppermost in every situation touchpoints: not limited to types we would usually think of (websites, bills, brochures) Controlling communication: regulate how staff communicate amongst themselves and with external stakeholders -- >organisational culture shapes communication is v.v.

Hard skills: quantitative (numbers) and concrete & difficult soft skills: qualitative (numbers) and fuzzy & easy

à misconceptions about communication : 1.communication is an everyday activity à skills that we all aquire naturally 2.preference of actions over words à all talk and no action BUT communicating is social action 3.underrated because impact is on the bottom line and hard to measure One cannot communicate (Watzlawick) Models = theoretical constructs that explain how systems work and they are abstractions The Shannon-Weaver model Describes communication as a process involving five elements: ➔ An information source that produces a message ➔ A transmitter that encodes it ➔ A channel through which the encoded signals are sent ➔ A receiver that decodes the message ➔ An information destination at which it arrives + noise Channels are for example: air, wire transmitting electrical impulses Distortion: Message arrived is not the same message as sent/message won’t arrive at all Semantic distortion: transmission in a technical sense is not affected, but the meaning is Backchannelling: Information always flows both ways (verbal/non-verbal) à acknowledging Early Model Karl Bühler representation: sender can prefer to objects and facts expressive: express emotions appellative: getting the listener to do things + 3 more by Roman Jakobson poetic: message itself is predominant metalinguistic: language describes itself phatic: communication is end in itself Schulz von Thun: four sides model factual: infos, facts self revelation: what I show about myself relationship: what I think of you and our relationship appeal: what I want from you Mode: system that allows humans to express meaning through symbols (verbal or non-verbal) à visual, audio, gestural, spatial, olfactory, haptic Medium: means by which message is communicated (linked to mode) Multimodality: different modes combined à shop must smell, feel and sound right

2) Language: the key to communication Yule’s five features of human language Displacement: The ability to talk about the things we want (not only about the “here and now”) Arbitrariness: linguistic signs – sounds, letters and words – have no connection with what they represent Duality: sounds themselves are meaningless unless they are combined into words (morphology: simple words can be combined to more complex words) Productivity: sounds and words are combined in new ways all the time Cultural Transmission: Languages are passed on from generation to generation through social contact and not through genes Linguistic relativity Sapir-Whorf hypothesis: language does affect the way we think and how we see the world - Strong version: thoughts and perceptions are determined by structure of our language our - Weak version: languages influences thought Social constructionism Our reality is created to a significant extent by social interaction which depends on language. Each has their own filter (describing the forest) è language never offers full and precise refelction of the world 2.2 Spoken versus written language Verbal communication spoken mode à consists of sounds written mode à written representation of those sounds sign language 2.2.1. Speech vs. writing Speech is the product of nature, writing of culture genetic à we learn to talk synchronous: participants contribute in real-time (following another or at the same time) speakers cannot revise their contributions which false starts, repetitions and overlap occur Writing learned skills à essential for personal growth and mature citizenship Asynchronous: time-lag between production and reception of utterance has more complex, embedded sentences, more vocabulary from standard language 2.2.2. Hybrid forms of the linguistic mode ➔ Some texts are written to be spoken→characteristics of both forms ➔ Often language used in written texts (email) is like spoken language ➔ TEXTSPEAK: includes emojis, non-standard capitalization àprescriptive: how language ought to be used àdescriptive: how language is actually used 2.3. text and discourse text- Can be written or spoken often use the term “talk” when referring to spoken language

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-Rarely exist in isolation -> either connected with texts produced earlier or texts produced later = INTERTEXTUALITY

2.3.2. discourse = concept which shows how texts are linked to the social context in which they are produced + consumed 1. Refers to language in use viewed together with its social context (uncountable noun) 2. Refers to specific communicative habits and sets of texts (countable noun)

2.4. Managing expectations in communication ➔ If true meaning-making process, all participants must manage their own and others’ expectations by respecting principles Grice’s Cooperative Principle

=how parties work together to achieve effective communication Four conversational maxims: 1)The maxim of quantity: give as much detail as necessary, but no more 2) The maxim of quality: don’t provide information that is false 3)The maxim of relation: share relevant information 4)The maxim of manner: be brief and orderly, avoid ambiguity conversational implicature = If sentences have no connection with what has gone before, we fill the gaps by relying on the context shared repertoire: ➔ Previous experience ➔ Our knowledge of the other party ➔ Needs and goals of the other party Preferred responses: expected reactions (adjacency pairs like “hi” and “hello”) Dispreferred responses: unexpected reactions àare usually longer because of explanations/apologies... FEEDBACK: First speak acknowledges the response à three part sequence Turn-taking = when one speaker stops and another starts (need to organise amongst themselves) Turn-claiming signals: more powerful interlocutors can claim the turn more easily Topic shift = how to move smoothly from one topic to the next à more powerful person to determine what the interaction should be about

Genre 1. = category of text distinguished by its purpose (presentations, negotiations, job interviews) 2. Texts belonging to the same one share formal characteristics (stylistic features) 3. Communicative purpose and formal traits are agreed upon and upheld by particular community è genre is a social phenomenon and needs backing from a community

3) Communication in context: cultures, organisations, settings Culture: ➢ = feature of a specific group and is learned by the group members ➢ = includes ideas and attitudes typical of the group ➢ = constantly changing because of the outside influences 3.1.1 Monochronic and polychronic cultures ➔ Those types are not representing cultures in the real world! They are representing the extreme ends of a spectrum Monochronic cultures US, Canada, UK and German-speaking countries High value: time (time is experienced in a linear way) Polychronic cultures Latin world More emphasis on completing human transactions than on holding schedules Linear and flexible time punctuality: linear time: capacity to complete task at a stipulated time – (Switzerland, UK, US, Germany, Japan) Flexible time: arriving to late is acceptable (Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, India) 3.1.2.Hofstede’s dimensions Power distance: The extent to which the group accepts power differences Individualism: everyone is expected to look after himself/family (opposite: collectivism) Masculinity: social gender roles are clearly distinct (opposite: femininity) Uncertainty avoidance: members of a culture feel threatened by unknown situations Long vs. Short-term orientation: values tradition (opposite: long-term orientation) Indulgence vs. restraint: allows its members gratify their human desires (opposite: restraint) The GLOBE project: Nine cultural competencies identified: Performance orientation: degree to which a group rewards group members for performance improvement Assertiveness: degree to which individuals are confrontational/aggressive in their relationship to others Future orientation: extent to which individuals engage in future-oriented behaviors Human orientation: degree to which a group rewards individuals for being fair Institutional collectivism: the degree to which organizational institutional practices reward collective distribution of resources In-Group collectivism: The degree to which individuals express loyalty in their families/organizations Gender egalitarianism: The degree to which a group minimizes gender inequality Power distance: The extent to which the group accepts power differences Uncertainty avoidance: the extent to which a group relies on social norms Beyond Hofstede CULTURAL PARADOX: Behavior of individuals is not consistent regarding to the culture

VALUE TRAMPING: values of culture can be trumped by others ESSENTIALISM: The belief, that a concept can be broken down in a number of aspects which together constitutes its essence Cultural Presuppositions =shaping the basic assumptions about the world Presuppositions ABOUT SOCIAL GROUPS communication is affected by assumptions that members of a society make about particular groups within it. DOG-WHISTLING: code words à triggers target audience but can be readily dismissed as harmless SPACE AND SITUATION PROXEMICS: Cultures perception of space à for example: space between people communicating à certain buildings require to communicate in a respectful way (churches, courts...) while in nightclubs very different communication àsocial situations (job interviews)

3.2 Organisational context organisations develop distinctive cultures which interact with national ones and they are by their very essence organized

3.2.1 Organisation structure and communication formal communication is influenced above all by power considerations GRAPEVINE informal communication network of unofficial channels connecting individual organization members à language clusters (employees with same language) à it transfers spontaneous messages quickly (based on gossip + difficult to controle)

COMMUNICATION IN TEAMS Four patterns of communication:

Key features of communication in successful teams: - Everyone in the team talks/listens the same amount of time -During team meetings, members face one another -Members connect directly with one another -During contributions, members provide backchannel -Members take pauses during meetings and bring back new information Organizational culture = corporate culture à takes ideas that lie behind national culture and applies them to organisations + affects the communicative practices of its members determines how closely hierarchical relations are reflected the way members talk one another influences the formal and informal communication affects the extent to which members communicate at all

3.3.1 Social Setting =context of any communicative activity o Increased code structuring: Participants have restricted rights to take part (court) o Code consistency: Language that don’t match the higher level of formality are rare (jokes) o Positional identities: Participants forced into positional identities (speak according to public role o Emergence of central focus: language used shows little variety (annual report) 3.3.2 Space: where does communication occur? space: location in which communiation occurs Space and formality: Building layout/buildings/interior design/seating arrangements can affect the level of formality Design and layout: traditional cell offices vs. multi-space areas Multispaces: more face-to-face interaction, more communication, not more participants Space and confrontation: seating arrangements 3.3.3 Participants: who communicates? participants: nature of communication is influenced by who engages in it make certann assumptions about other participants come from distinct professional communities or social groups Assumptions about communications partners Familiarity: nicknames, first names, unexplained references to shared experience Siege Mentality (bunker mentality) = believing to be under attack form all outsiders Communicating across specialist fields and language barriers misunderstandings because technical expressions are used with a different meaning cross-functional team: mutual understanding of a meaning community of practice: group that works and communicates together and whose language use develops in order to help achieve a goal code-switching: switch between languages depending on the topic Translanguaging: two or more languages even in a single utterance

4) Four functions of language ➔ TRANSLANGUAGING: using at least two languages

Form vs. Function Form = surface features (like grammatical categories, types of structure) types of structure : - Declaratives (I’m cooking the meal) - Interrogatives (Are you cooking the meal?) - Imperatives (Cook the meal!) The intended meaning is decoded by its receiver à single form used to fulfil various functions v.v.

Speech acts: (consists of various components) 1) Illocution (=social act that the speaker performs with an utterance like a request) 2) Locution (=the way the utterance is expressed) form and function do not always coincide indirect speech acts: one speech act is performed through another

4.2. informative function Schulz: factual information (which information am I providing?) ➔ Often declarative includes: facts, ideas and conceptions (any utterance that extends its audience’s knowledge) à since it cannot include all the information, we must select which information to include Storytelling: supply information about certain characters and their purpose is to entertain, motivate,. feature is that they follow a set of structure à they are seen as element in constructing corporate cultures founding myths: stories about how companies were set up à Narrative/Story is crucial if you want to seel something

4.3 The expressive function Schulz: self-revelation (what I make known about myself) à revealing it through attitudes Interjections: wow à unintentionally Expletives (swear words) à expressing emotions negative interrogatives could occur Opinion: refer to a view of judgement, short-term focus Attitude: more settled stance of feeling è expressed through choice of vocabulary and the use of first pronouns Advertorials: texts that appear to be standard lifestyle articles but are actually intended to act as an advert

4.4 Appellative function Schulz: appeal (What I want you to do) à getting what you want performative utterance à statement changes social reality in some way by being made Felicity conditions: (when met, no option but to accept its effect) conventionality of procedure: procedure follows conventional form (marriage, exact words) appropriate participants and circumstances: specified in laws and rule complete execution: required speech act without errors or interruptions 2 types of situation 1) Instructions : no option but to comply with instructions (grammatical form = imperative) ➔ Imperative (Deliver the goods by next Monday!) information à also an invitation to the recipient ot take action mostly emphatic form (do sit down) rather than standard (sit down)àtone of voice is very important ➔ Increase impact by using intensifiers (using description to increase importance or expletives è Instructions may be replaced by threats! (failure will have unpleasant consequences)

2)requests ➔ avoid antagonism à impression that they are free to decide (not explicitly expressed)

interrogative form à appear to be seeking information (about willingness) request perspective: idea that antagonistic effects depends on how much focuses on recipient Reducing the antagonistic effect of requests a) - understaters: at least some of the goods by Monday? - downtoners: any chance you could deliver by Monday? - negation: couldn’t you deliver Monday? - past tense: was wondering whether you could deliver my Monday. - embedded conditions: be grateful if you could,… b) – hearer-oriented: focus on recipient (can you?) - speaker-oriented: focus on speaker (I’d like) - speaker and hearer: let’s see if we - impersonal: focus on action: it would be great to

Convincing others to want the same as you people will more willingly do what you want if they believe that it will benefit them à persuading • •

➔ Using non-linguistic support is important for persuading (images, body language, tone of voice...) ➔ Negotiations: compromise and being precise (avoid: maybe, a bit…)

4.5. the interpersonal function Schulz: Relationship (how we relate to each other/what I think of you) • •

➔ Establish and maintain relationship ➔ Don’t require intimacy

Phatic communication: = main point is not the content but simply to maintain the conversation (how do you do,…) Phatic expression as backchannel Eloquent silence: silence which is on purpose à allowing the speaker to collect thoughts Phatic communication can occur in emails, social media... -> phatic communication is important in team-working situations (building mutual trust) Small talk Difference between small talk and other phatic communication: Small talk is ostensibly à Topic is of minimal importance à Status of small talk is culturally dependent Politeness Face: public self-image (the idea they wish the world to have of them) Face, face-threatening acts and facework Face: Positive face: a person’s desire to be perceived positively by others (hard-working, honest...) Negative face: a person’s desire to act freely è any action that causes a loss of face = face-threatening act (FTA) Politeness is trying to avoid or minimize the damage of face threatening acts = Facework Terms of address = family and first names, nicknames

Politeness strategies Facework can be carried out in a lot of different ways: 1. Delay FTA’s (issuing an instruction/imparting bad news) 1. Apply fillers (well, um...) 2. Apply introductory words 2. Message can be expressed indirectly (e.g.: request) 3. Apologize and give explanation for the offending message 4. “yes-but strategy”: first preferred response, then disagreeing 5. Use understatements (briefly, for a second...) 6. Do...